Share This Story!

Broncos offense is prolific, but far from perfect

At his core, John Fox is a defensive coach — a former collegiate defensive back who was raised in the NFL by Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll. So that's why when the Denver Broncos coach sits in his office at

Story Highlights

At his core, John Fox is a defensive coach — a former collegiate defensive back who was raised in the NFL by Hall of Fame coach Chuck Noll.

So that's why when the Denver Broncos coach sits in his office at team headquarters these days, he imagines what it must be like for his coaching peers and defensive coordinators around the league to try to game plan for his fancy offense run by quarterback Peyton Manning.

Fox once schemed up game plans to stop opposing quarterbacks such as Joe Montana, Dan Marino, Brett Favre and, yes, even John Elway.

He doesn't envy those who are tasked with stopping a Broncos offense that has scored 83 points in two games — 49 in the opener against the defending champion Baltimore Ravens, and 34 in Sunday's 41-23 win vs. the New York Giants. The Broncos hit 41 in Manning Bowl III when Trindon Holliday took a punt back 81 yards for Denver's fourth trip into the end zone.

But putting himself back in the mind-set of a defensive coordinator is a helpful reminder to Fox that even as Manning racks up yards and touchdowns, the Broncos offense must evolve and improve.

"You try to stay one step ahead of the posse, so to speak," Fox said Monday. "You're always looking, you're always re-evaluating. It's what we do."

Manning is on pace to throw for more than 6,150 yards and 72 touchdowns — unheard of numbers — and he has not thrown an interception in his first 85 attempts.

Two games is a small sample size, but the pace might continue.

The Oakland Raiders, with the No. 6-ranked defense after playing the Indianapolis Colts and Jacksonville Jaguars, are next up for the Broncos on Monday. After that, Denver will play a stretch of six games that includes matchups against the current three worst defenses in the NFL, the Philadelphia Eagles, San Diego Chargers and Washington Redskins.

Despite the gaudy stats, Fox and his offensive coaching staff will have plenty to harp on. The slow-starting Broncos have yet to score in the first quarter and have scored 24 first-half points through two weeks. The Broncos trailed the Ravens and had a one-point lead against the Giants at halftime of those games.

And the Broncos have committed 21 penalties while being loose with the ball. Denver has fumbled five times, losing three.

The Broncos saw a promising opening drive end Sunday when rookie running back Montee Ball lost a fumble into the end zone — so trusting their pair of young running backs remains an issue. Veteran Knowshon Moreno, who opened camp third on the depth chart behind speedster Ronnie Hillman and Ball, is getting the starting nod since he's the most dependable back — both holding onto the ball and in pass protection.

The irony is Moreno was benched in 2012 for eight games after fumbling in Week 2.

And now Denver must face playing a game without all-pro left tackle Ryan Clady for the first time since Clady was drafted in the first round in 2008 — a streak of 82 consecutive regular-season games and three playoff games. Clady has been diagnosed with a Lisfranc sprain in his left foot and will miss several weeks, a person with knowledge of the injury told USA TODAY Sports on Monday.

The person spoke on condition of anonymity because the Broncos had not announced the severity of Clady's injury nor a timetable for the return of Manning's blindside protector.

"I'm not into fortunetelling or tea leaves or any of that good stuff," Fox said. "It's a left foot sprain. When we know something, we'll let all the fortunetellers know."

As usual, Peyton did most of his damage from the pocket in Manning Bowl III, passing for 307 yards and two TDs. It was the first time he'd played against Eli while in a Denver uniform. (Photo: Robert Deutsch, USA TODAY Sports)

The Colts came away with a 26-21 victory, Peyton came away with new respect for his little brother's abilities, and the whole Manning clan decided the whole experience was just a bit too stressful. (Photo: Jim McIsaac, Getty Images)

No passing required to attend this UNC-Duke game at Cameron Indoor Stadium in 2008. Peyton would return to Duke's facilities in Durham, N.C., while rehabbing in 2012 in the months before he signed with the Broncos. (Photo: Streeter Lecka, Getty Images)